2018 Outlook: Norman Beauchamp, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine

Norman Beauchamp, Dean of Michigan State University College of Human MedicineCourtesy Photo

In late 2017, Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine opened the $88.1 million Grand Rapids Research Center in the city’s downtown. As the medical school now looks to build a larger research base in Grand Rapids in 2018 and beyond, Dean Norman Beauchamp said the center opens opportunities for further partnerships with local care providers and companies not only in medical research but also with businesses that address the economic issues that affect health care.

“I see continued increase in the costs of health care and barriers to access leading our nation to embrace that we can and must do more in health care innovation. We believe in the midst of adversity lies opportunity and we will realize that opportunity. Specifically, we plan to partner with companies seeking to innovate in health care. We will bring companies to Grand Rapids and partner with existing companies. We believe in working more closely with the medical school and our hospital partners. Companies seeking to innovate will lower their costs, increase their product viability and lower product cycle time. … We will establish a bioinformatics core connecting and partnering with our health care partners. In this way, we can identify costs that can be removed, health care access that can be improved, research efforts that are needed, and innovations that are most promising. We believe the challenges that the economy is bringing to education and research will lead to a migration of top talent to communities that are inviting and enabling of excellence. We are going to continue to enhance our environment through partnership, share what is possible with the rest of the nation, and help establish Grand Rapids as the epicenter for the transformation of care. Briefly, we believe that excellence, efficiency, execution, energy, equity and environment make us resilient to whatever challenges await.”